NEW DELHI: Abhinav Bindra, India’s only individual Olympic Gold medallist till date, opined that corporate houses must shift their focus to Olympic sports when it comes to sponsorships for Indian sport to grow beyond cricket, Press Trust of India reports.
The 2008 10m air rifle event champion, who has participated in the Olympics five times and retired in 2016 after the Rio Games, also cited USA’s example as a benchmark for Indian sports administrators to follow.
“I think couple of things need to change in the landscape of Indian sports. There has to be lot more more corporate support in sports outside of cricket. Lot more investment needs to come into Olympic sport,” Bindra said at the event ‘OPPI Annual Summit 2018’ in the capital city on Friday.
“I can give the example of United States Olympic Committee, the US Olympic committee does not get one dollar as subsidy from the government, they are completely funded by corporate support. Things are different between USA and India. The second point is about governance, I think sports governance is something which needs to change in this country. Good governance needs to come in. That change will only happen when that change is mandated. People don’t like change, people like to be where they are. The need of the hour is sports legislation which shows a degree of good governance. I think work is going on in that area. It requires political will and if that happens, it will give a great boost to Indian sports,” he asserted.
The 35-year-old, who is now an entrepreneur and working closely with the new generation of athletes, urged patience as well for better performances in Olympic Games, especially when it comes to grassroots development.
“Unfortunately, everybody wants instant gratification and you don’t get instant gratification in grassroots. It requires perseverance and persistence and patience to get the desired result.”
